Coffee Talk
by Red Delphi
Summary: A fanfiction of a fanfiction, CKbrothers' Undertale: Dimensional Souls. The difference between Perseverance and Determination is a lack of optimism, as demonstrated by one surly teenager. Would some good food and bad laughs be enough to get him to be a team player?
**Author's Note: So, I've been tossing around ideas for a series of Six Souls stories for a few months now. I had a few unique ideas for each one (has anyone done a bipolar blue soul yet?), but the unifying concept is that each soul's main flaw (and ultimate downfall) would be a lack of whatever's the defining aspect of the next soul in the sequence. Cyan lacks bravery, Orange lacks integrity, Purple lacks kindness, etc. going all the way to Yellow who would wrap around to lack patience. I'm still working out plots for some of them, but the Purple soul grabbed me early on. So when Ckbrothers sent out a call for character concepts for a SYOC story they were working on, writing out a profile for Roy was a great way for me to get him out into the world without taking too much time away from my other obligations. The setting they've created in their story Undertale: Dimensional Souls is very interesting. The basic concept is that some weird interdimensional shenanigans have caused a bunch of different versions of the underground to converge on one another, and some of the different versions of the six souls have been resurrected along with it. CK has done a good job personifying these characters that were not originally their own, but if I have one complaint it is their sparse and sporadic update schedule. As of writing this it will have been one month since their last update, with their word count for each chapter averaging ~1100 words. So, to satisfy my own desire to see this story continue, and to get some practice with this character I'm hoping someday to give a story of his own, I've written out a scene that I think could fit within the next chapter of their story, whenever it comes out. Call it a side scene if it fits well enough to not conflict with the actual story, or an AU if this is completely different from anything they have in mind for it, but I wanted to put it out there anyway. Enjoy.**

Like every landmark location in the underground so far, this version of Grillby's was much larger than normal to accommodate for the multiple versions of all its patrons and employees. Several identical fire elementals were standing behind the counter, with one more flamboyantly dressed one on the very end. "Here we are, kiddies, Grillby's!" Bryant announced to Nathan and Lazuli. The two children were gaping around the room wide-eyed, taking in the sight of so many copies of the same monsters all in the same place. "Home of the best burgers, brews, and fries this side of Hotland! And surprisingly good coffee courtesy of that fella over there," he nodded over to the last Grillby, which caused Roy to give a sarcastic snort.

"Yeah, too bad about his fashion sense though. Cyan tuxedoes are not a good look for anyone," he drawled. The comment caused both Nathan and Lazuli to look at him angrily, which caught him off guard. "What?" The two children just kept glaring at him until he was forced to look away with a dismissive tsk. "Whatever," he grumbled, extracting himself from Bryant's vice-like grip and heading over to the counter. There were a few Sanses already sitting there, and despite there being plenty of room, it was hard to ignore when they made a show of getting up and moving a couple of spaces away.

"I don't think they like him very much," Lazuli observed.

"I don't think _I_ like him very much," Nathan added.

Bryant gave a grimacing smile and rubbed the back of his neck. "He's not so bad, really. He just doesn't like to get close to people is all. He's pretty cool once he warms up to you. I think. You're right about the Sanses though. Most of them didn't take too well to him calling a Papyrus an idiot the other day, so they've been steering clear of him ever since." From the scandalized look on both of their faces, it was clear Nathan and Lazuli probably would have done the same. "Not all of them though, watch!"

Despite his opinion on the monster's style, Roy had ordered a cup of coffee and a basket of fries. Just as he was about to sit down though, a loud fart noise reverberated from the stool. Several monsters snickered, and Roy glared around the room. "maybe you should lay off the coffee, buddy. that stuff goes right through you," a Sans spoke up, stepping out from a corner of the room.

Roy rolled his eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. "Speak for yourself, numbskull," he muttered before turning back to his food. Taking that as an invitation, the Sans sat down next to him and rapped his knuckles on the counter. A Grillby understood the order and slid a bottle of ketchup down the counter, which he caught and took a long drink from. They settled into a comfortable silence after that, not speaking, but not arguing either. It was probably the closest Roy got to being amiable.

Satisfied that Roy wasn't going to cause any trouble, Bryant guided the others over to their own seats. The only gap of three consecutive stools was clear on the other side of the counter from Roy, next to the table where a group of lesser dogs were playing poker. One of the dogs made eye contact with Lazuli. When she smiled at it, it began wagging its tail. Gingerly she reached a hand out to it, and it started stretching its neck out to lean into the pet. Giggling, she kept petting with one hand, reaching out to the dog next to it with her free hand when it started making eyes at her. Nathan saw what was going on and joined in as well.

"Oh, come on! Don't start that in here!" Roy called out when he saw what they were doing. Once it had started it was too late to stop however; all the dogs were eager to be pet, and the two were patiently giving all of them the attention they demanded. Two of the dogs' necks had already extended so far as to reach the ceiling, and were circling back around to the floor. He looked towards Bryant to see if he'd be the responsible adult, but he appeared to be amused by these antics and wasn't going to put a stop to the fun anytime soon. "Idiots," Roy mumbled under his breath, deciding to ignore them. He pulled out his notebook and laid it out on the counter, flipping through it to a blank page. Furiously he started writing. _What good is being patient if you can't actually do anything because you keep standing still? Useless, cowering, lack willpower. What good is bravery if you do things without thinking about their consequences? Cocky, self-assured braggart. What good-_

"you ah, you really got a lot to say, huh?" the Sans that had been sitting next to him asked, peering over his shoulder. Roy covered his writing with his non-dominant hand and glowered at the skeleton. He seemed completely unfazed by the expression however. "but aren't you being a little harsh there buddy? they're just kids after all."

"It's better than me yelling at them here, in public with you and all your clones watching me," Roy replied, turning back to his work. "Like the saying goes, if you can't think of anything nice to say, save it for later when you actually want to start a fight over it."

"pretty sure that's not how that saying goes, but sure," Sans sat back in his seat. "so you think you're gonna get in a fight with those guys?"

"Not that kind of fight," Roy responded automatically. After a moment he thought on it though and added, "I don't know. Maybe. Not really sure what to make of them. Something just feels off in that group, can't place what."

"what about that monster that was with them?"

"The pink Toriel? Yeah, I guess that's pretty weird. Especially if what they were saying about her being corrupted is true. But she seems kind of harmless."

Sans was shaking his head. "no, i mean the other monster, the one in the mask."

Roy stopped writing then. "Okay, that one _is_ weird. I haven't been able to get a read on that one at all. It's almost like-" He started gesturing with his hands to try and depict something he absolutely could not describe. Looking back at Sans he tried to gauge his reaction. "Do _you_ think he's someone we should be worried about?"

"don't ask me, i'm not involved in any of this. all i'm saying is that maybe you should be taking fewer notes about those guys over there, and start paying more attention to him."

"Like hell you're not involved!" Roy exclaimed, closing his notebook with an exaggerated smack and turning to face the skeleton. "You're the one that keeps coming up to me, pestering me to cooperate with that muscle-head, to go out looking for corrupted monsters or whatever. But why? It's not like we're friends, I was never friends with any of you."

"you never made friends with the sans from your timeline?"

"No." His expression was initially angry, but softened into a more pensive look. "I didn't stick around Snowdin long enough to even see one of you. I'm actually not sure you were around. I think I would have noticed a maniacal maze-mad moron and his slobbish sibling." The insults caused a small twinge in Sans' smile but that apparently wasn't enough of the reaction Roy was hoping for. He leaned back on his stool and muttered, "Makes me wonder why I'm stuck in this town of all places, instead of where I actually ended up."

"you see, that's exactly what's got me interested in you," Sans said with a shrug. "my brother and i, well in our timeline we'd moved to snowdin long after asgore had collected most of the souls he needed. there's only one human that i actually met in my timeline. but if you came through town before we moved here, chances are good that you and i are from that same timeline."

"So what? That doesn't mean we're friends," Roy snapped back. Despite his harshness however, the way he shifted in his seat gave away that he was intrigued. Sans chuckled a little.

"no, i guess it doesn't, but i figure it's as good a reason as any for guys like us to stick together," Sans explained shaking his head. Roy responded with a bemused snort, starting to turn back to his writing. "i mean, if the two of us found each other that means there could be others from our timeline out there too."

"What are you going on about now?" Roy drawled, not looking up as he flipped through his book to get back to the page he'd been on.

Sans gave another chuckle. "and i thought you were claiming to be the smart one of the bunch," he teased. "are you absolutely certain there's no one from our timeline you'd want to see?" Sans watched as the color slowly drained from Roy's face. He looked up at the short skeleton his face positively aghast. "looks like you thought of somebody."

"No." Roy shook his head emphatically, and kept shaking it with each repetition. "No, no, no, nonono NO!" His voice rose until he was suddenly shouting over the din of the crowded bar. Several of the multiplied patrons turned to see what all the commotion was about. Lazuli and Nathan had poked their heads out of the lesser dog pile and even Bryant was peering quizzically at him from the far end of the counter. Roy glared around the room as he waited for everyone else to lose interest in them before continuing with a hiss. "They aren't here. They _can't_ be here. There are those _things_ roaming around out there and –God!" he brought both hands up to either side of his temples and slumped over in his chair, looking defeated. "This is a nightmare. A horrible, post-death nightmare."

"h-hey, come on there, buddy, it's not that bad," Sans consoled, surprisingly shaken by Roy's outburst. He reached out to give a soft pat on the back. "i mean yeah, your friend's probably having a rough go of it if they're out there, but they probably aren't alone, and look on the bright side: you have a chance of seeing them again now. that's more than most folks get."

"You don't get it," the teenager moaned, still looking despondent. "It's all my fault. If I hadn't come down here, they wouldn't have come looking for me, they wouldn't have died, and they wouldn't be stuck in this messed up multiverse thing with the rest of us. How the hell am I supposed to face them knowing that they went through all that because of me?"

San gave a wry laugh. "heh, you kind of sound like a friend of mine when you talk like that," he explained. "seriously though, you're putting way too much weight on your part in all this. you weren't the one that told them to come after you, and even if you could have reasonably expected they would, you couldn't have foreseen any of the things that happened after that. heh, i don't think anyone could have predicted whatever this is." He took another swig from his bottle and didn't say anything for a moment. When Roy didn't elect to fill the silence he kept going. "you know, if that person means so much to you, you should be glad to have the chance to see them again. even if it's just to say you're sorry for the shit you put them through. i know people who would give the world for that."

"Is that how you feel about the human that you actually met then? Shouldn't you be out looking for them instead of pestering me?" From the way Roy said it he probably meant it as a deflection, just something to get the conversation off of himself. But when he looked at Sans again he was shocked. The skeleton's expression had turned dark, his one blue eye flashing violently.

Sans' fingers scraped against the glass of his bottle with an unpleasant sound. "no, actually. i happen to know for a fact that they wouldn't have ended up in this place. And if they did, well, let's just say that we'd all have much bigger problems to deal with if they were around." Sans closed his eyes and seemed to be thinking back on something. When he opened his eyes again he was back to his usual smile. "so i'm afraid you're stuck with me, buddy. you and i are each other's only connections to our lives before this weird convergent timeline crap happened. at least until you go out and try and find your friend."

"Why don't you do it then? Since you're so keen on us reuniting? It could be a big Crapsack World Number 6843 reunion!" Roy proclaimed sarcastically. He took a sip from his own drink.

"nah, that sounds like it'd be too much effort. running around trying to find some kid i never even met before would be a royal pain." Roy sputtered into his cup, coughing as he tried to clear his lungs of the hot coffee that went down the wrong pipe.

When he'd finally recovered enough to speak he was glaring daggers at Sans. "Who told you?" he growled, voice still a little breathless and raspy.

Sans just gave another condescending chuckle. "guess you didn't know that the king put names on all of the coffins. don't worry, i won't tell anyone. for what it's worth though, i think it suits hue." Roy just kept glaring at Sans, certain that had been some kind of pun, but unsure what exactly the joke was about. Sans threw up his arms and winked, cementing the suspicion that the joke had gone over his head. "whelp, i'm gonna get out of here and leave you to your meal. remember what i said about the masked guy though, okay pal?" With that he shuffled off out of the bar. Roy kept an eye on him as he walked out the door.

"You know," one of the rabbit customers sitting in a nearby booth hiccupped, speaking her thoughts aloud in a moment of clarity, "I don't think I've ever seen that particular Sans walking around with a Papyrus with him."

Roy flinched, and he turned away to stare into his coffee cup. "You don't know what you're talking about," he snapped at the rabbit. "All of them look exactly alike; how could you even tell?"

The rabbit just shrugged herself. "Well, how can you always tell it's the same one that keeps bothering you all the time?" she asked. Before Roy could think of an appropriate response however, she drained her glass, blinked blearily around the room, and collapsed over the table in her booth, apparently dead to the world. Roy was forced to contemplate things in silence as he finished his food. At least until the cowboy wandered into the bar and walked over to him.

"Doc asked me to come get you," Clint announced, clearly expecting him to drop everything and follow. Roy looked for a moment like he was going to protest, but glanced down at the Lawman's holster and decided it wasn't worth it. Besides, if Doctor Gaster was asking for him, it was best not to keep him waiting. Grabbing his notebook, Roy chugged the last few dregs of his cup and slid down off the stool. Adjusting his glasses, he gave a small, affirmative grunt to Clint and the two of them headed back out into town.


End file.
